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Of all the storylines surrounding the Edmonton Eskimos (7-11) and Toronto Argonauts (9-9) heading into Sunday’s East Division semifinal, the one that is the freshest and has the potential to carry the most irony is the fact the Argos are facing the team they put in the playoffs.

That either dooms the Argos in their first step toward a home appearance in the 100th Grey Cup, or paves the way for a possible round-trip ticket to Montreal on the shoulders of Edmonton’s former franchise quarterback, Ricky Ray.

Either way, it’s a delicious matchup that will surely be a bitter wakeup call for the loser.

The Argos not only opened the crossover door for Edmonton — granting the Eskimos a playoff run they otherwise would have missed out on — with a 43-40 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the season finale, but they did it on a last-play field goal by former Eskimos kicker Swayze Waters.

Season series success

Going strictly by what has already happened in 2012, things look good for the Eskimos heading into the East semifinal on the strength of a 2-0 sweep of their season series against the Argos. Edmonton won both meetings, by a combined score of 45-32.

Home is where the hurt is

It might be the sight of the 100th Grey Cup, but Rogers Centre hasn’t quite had that homey feeling for the Argonauts this season.

At 5-4, they actually have a better road record than the 4-5 they managed at home. And while the Eskimos were a pitiful 2-7 on the road, one of those wins was against the Argonauts.

It could turn on turnovers

Toronto led the league with a giveaway-takeaway ratio of plus-10 this season, with 43 turnovers earned and 33 surrendered. The Eskimos defence led the CFL with 49 takeaways, thanks to a league-high 27 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries, but they were bumped down to fourth in giveaways-takeaways with a plus-six after giving up a league-high 13 turnovers on downs this season.

In interdivisional games in 2012, Edmonton finished an even 4-4 against East opponents, while the Argos were 3-5 against the West.

History often repeats

The Eskimos are 22-15 all-time in divisional seminal games, a winning percentage of 0.595, but just 7-10 (0.412) when playing those games on the road.

As far as crossing over into the East Division, Edmonton has won it’s only previous occasion, a 29-21 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the road in 2008. For what it matters, the Esks are 4-6 on Remembrance Day, going 2-2 in semfinal games and 2-4 in divisional finals.

This is the first time Edmonton is playing Toronto in a divisional semifinal, and the two have never played a divisional final against each other. However, their shared playoff history includes four Grey Cup showdowns that have been split 2-2.

Boyd's eye view

Running back Cory Boyd is back in Toronto after leading the league early in the season, only to be released. Twice.

He was let go by the Argos and then, later, by Edmonton, only to be brought back into the Eskimos’ mix after Hugh Charles went down in Week 17.

Boyd is coming off a week where he had eight carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. Somehow, he’s found his way back for the East Division semifinal. If he doesn’t have something to prove, then nobody does.